Thursday, July 27, 2017

Chester Bennington & Chris Cornell Were Indeed Very Close

As I mentioned last week following the death by suicide of former Linkin Park headman Chester Bennington, he and Chris Cornell (of Soundgarden, Temple of the Dog, and Audioslave) were unusually close, which makes it rather eerie that they both committed suicide by hanging, specifically, earlier this year.

Bennington sang at Cornell's funeral, and he also was the Godfather to Chris Cornell's son. So clearly, there were very close. He also sang a tribute to Cornell on the Jimmy Kimmel Live show the day after Cornell's suicide in May, telling the audience first:

"We were going to come out and play 'Heavy' first. In light of our dear friend Chris Cornell passing away, we decided to play our song, 'One More Light' ... We love you Chris."

After Bennington's suicide, Cornell's wife Vicky tweeted the sentiment that just when she thought her heart could not break more, this happened.

A spokesperson for the Cornell family issued this statement in the aftermath of Bennington's death by suicide:

“The Cornell family is overwhelmed by the heartbreaking news about Chester Bennington which tragically comes so soon after their family's own loss. They open up their loving arms to Chester’s family and share in the sorrow with all those who loved him."

It really is a tragedy. We have two of the most iconic singers of the hard rock scene - two very close friends, in fact - who committed suicide within a couple of months of one another. They brought intelligence and intensity to their music and their entire approach to life, and in these dark times, we sure could have used a little bit more of that kind of presence, and that approach to music and art in general.

Such a tragedy! RIP, Chris Cornell and Chad Bennington

All of the quotes used in this particular blog entry were taken from the following article by Michael Rothman of ABC News (see link below):